Germany: Authorities Arrest Suspected Nazi Terrorists

Police in Germany have arrested six alleged right-wing terrorists. According to the federal prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe, the suspects are members of the group ‘Revolution Chemnitz’. They planned attacks against foreigners and people opposing Nazis, including politicians.

A spokeslady for the prosecution said the men had been arrested in Saxony and Bavaria. They were being suspected of forming a terrorist organization. Several apartments and other places had been searched.

More than 100 police officers were part of today’s operation, according to the information from Karlsruhe, as well as mobile task forces. The accused were part of the Skinhead and neo-Nazi scene around Chemnitz, the spokesperson stated. They apparently saw themselves as leaders of the radical right-wing movement in the region.

The men in custody are 20 to 30 years old. They supposedly wanted to “remove the state of law”. One of the leaders of the gang was arrested some two weeks ago after he allegedly took part in an attack against foreign nationals in Chemnitz, during which several people were injured.

The authorities believe the attack, which took place on the ‘Schlossteichinsel’, a tiny island in a Chemnitz lake, was a “test run” for a larger attack the Nazi group planned for October 3rd, which is Germany’s Unification Day. Five of the men arrested today were part of the ‘Schlossteichinsel’ attack on September 14th, according to the federal prosecutor’s office.

Back then, in mid-September, the prosecution did not know what kind of organization the attackers were forming, but evidence was collected. Over time, the authorities managed to collect more information about the goals the alleged Nazi terrorists had set for themselves.

The spokesperson said, the seven Nazis, including the man who had been arrested earlier, had been suspected of setting up a criminal organization at first. But the information collected by investigators had finally pointed towards a terrorist organization.

In the end, the communication between the suspect via concealed channels led to the insights the accused will be confronted with in court. A lot of material about the Nazi group was collected, including communication data which shows that the men were in the process of trying to acquire hand guns. The alleged terrorists might have to expect long jail sentences.

In September, the killing of a young man in Chemnitz, allegedly by foreign nationals, led to several Nazi marches and counter protests. Around the same time, a scandal erupted in Berlin. It started when Hans-Georg Maassen, the director of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, downplayed some of the Chemnitz attacks.